While the San Diego Seals put up a fight with a pair of furious fourth-quarter rallies in their National Lacrosse League semifinal playoff series against the Albany FireWolves over the weekend, it’s time for local high school programs to take center stage as the San Diego Section playoffs face off.
The Seals, who posted the second-best regular season record among NLL teams and received the No. 2 seed in the eight-team playoffs, bowed out of championship contention, rather begrudgingly, in fact, following heart-breaking 14-12 and 13-10 losses to the third-seeded FireWolves.
Cheered on by a boisterous crowd estimated at 7,000 Friday night at Pechanga Arena, the Seals fell behind by scores of 10-5 and 11-6 before storming back to fall short by two goals in the best-of-three series opener.
The series shifted to New York on Sunday. The Seals once again challenged with scoring runs but Albany turned in the most explosive runs to open up an insurmountable lead.
The Seals finished the season with an overall mark of 13-7 following a 13-5 regular season showing.
Prep parade
The section opens the 2024 playoffs this week with games in four divisions in both gender fields: Open Division (six teams), Division I (12 teams), Division II (12 teams) and Division III (12 teams). Championship games are scheduled May 17-18.
The playoff schedule features three elimination rounds for the Open Division and four elimination rounds for Division I, Division II and Division III.
Open Division boys quarterfinals are set for Thursday, May 9, followed by semifinals on Tuesday, Nat 14. Girls quarterfinals are May 9, followed by semifinals on Wednesday, May 15.
Division I boys teams will face off first-round play on Wednesday, May 8. Quarterfinals follow on Saturday, May 11 and semifinals on Wednesday, May 15. All games are set for 7 p.m. starts.
Division II and Division III boys teams will play opening-round games on Tuesday, May 7, and quarterfinal games on Friday, May 10. Semifinal games are scheduled Tuesday, May 14, for Division III boys teams and Wednesday, May 15, for Division II boys teams.
Division II and Division III girls teams will open the playoffs on Tuesday, May 7, while Division I teams will face off post-season play on Wednesday, May 8.
Division II and Division III girls quarterfinals are scheduled Friday, May 10, while Division I quarterfinals are Saturday, May 11. Division I and Division III girls semifinals are scheduled Tuesday, May 14. Division II semifinals are scheduled Wednesday, May 15.
All games are at 7 p.m. until the championship round.
Boys finals are scheduled at San Dieguito Academy while girls finals are scheduled at Scripps Ranch High School. The boys Open Division final is scheduled May 17 at 7 p.m. while the girls Open Division final is scheduled is scheduled May 18 at 5 p.m.
Both sites will host the remaining three division finals as follows: Division I boys May 18 at 5 p.m., Division I girls May 17 at 7 p.m., Division II boys May 18 at 2:30 p.m., Division II girls May 18 at 2 p.m., Division III boys May 18 at noon and Division III girls May 18 at 11 a.m.
Top seeds in the boys divisions include No. 1 Torrey Pines (15-3) and No. 2 Santa Fe Christian (13-5) in the Open Division, No. 1 Coronado (12-6) and No. 2 San Marcos (9-9) in Division I, No. 1 Del Norte (10-6) and No. 2 Pt. Loma (14-3) in Division II, and No. 1 West Hills (12-6) and No. 2 San Diego (12-6) in Division III.
Top seeds in the girls divisions include No. 1 Torrey Pines (15-4) and No. 2 Coronado (14-3) in the Open Division, No. 1 Carlsbad (15-4) and No. 2 Del Norte (12-6) in Division I, No. 1 University City (15-3) and No. 2 Fallbrook (15-4) in Division II and No. 1 Castle Park (12-9) and No. 2 Rancho Buena Vista (14-3) in Division III.
Southern exposure
A total of nine Metro Conference teams – five girls and four boys teams — qualified for this year’s playoffs.
Castle Park (12-9) earned the No. 1 seed among Division III girls teams while the same field was loaded with three more Metro Conference teams: No. 3 San Ysidro (12-8), No. 4 Mater Dei Catholic (12-7) and No. 6 Bonita Vista (12-9).
Castle Park receives a first-round bye and will meet the winner between No. 8 Tri-City Christian and No. 9 Mission Bay in Friday’s quarterfinals. San Ysidro and Mater Dei Catholic also received byes to Friday’s quarterfinals.
San Ysidro will host the winner between Bonita Vista and No. 11 Monte Vista (7-6) while Mater Dei Catholic will host the winner between No. 5 West Hills (12-7) and No. 12 San Diego (10-6).
Eastlake (12-7) received the No. 8 position in the Division II girls playoffs and will host No. 9 El Capitan (12-5) in Tuesday’s opening round. The winner advances to meet No. 1 University City (15-3) in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Semifinal games are scheduled Tuesday, May 14. All weekday games are scheduled at 7 p.m.
Castle Park head coach Chris Kryjewski has worked hard over the past several years to elevate the Lady Trojan program to prominence not only locally but section-wide.
“Our program is very excited to be holding the No. 1 seed in the Division III playoffs after earning the No. 9 seed in 2023,” he said. “The players and coaches worked extremely hard to hold this position. It means a lot to us as this will be the final year of playing in our home stadium with the remodel about to start.
“Over the course of two years we are 15-5 at home. The task is far from over and we have high expectations going into the playoffs. The girls’ grit and fight have been displayed and they are very eager seize the opportunities that are in front of them. This team has been challenged in all facets of the game, life, and the classroom portion of the game.”
It seems the task is far from over for CPHS sophomore Leilani Roche, who has scored 97 goals this season and 167 goals over the past two seasons … and counting.
Mesa league co-champions Eastlake (15-5) and Bonita Vista (15-3) were seeded seventh and 11th, respectively in the Division II boys bracket after each finishing 7-1 in league play. Eastlake is set to host No. 10 Mt. Carmel (2-13) in Wednesday’s opening round while Bonita Vista is set to travel to No. 6 San Dieguito Academy (10-7).
Also on the boys side, Mater Dei Catholic (11-8) is set to host No. 9 UCSD Preuss (9-7) while Olympian (11-8) is set to host No. 11 Clairemont (12-6), also on Tuesday.
According to the LaxNumbers website, final regular season section rankings for Metro Conference boys teams went as follows: No. 22 Eastlake, No. 28 Bonita Vista, No. 41 Olympian, No. 43 Mater Dei Catholic, No. 50 Hilltop (5-15), No. 53 Otay Ranch (2-12), No. 54 San Ysidro (2-9) and No. 57 Mar Vista (0-13).
Metro Conference girls teams were divided into the Mesa League (five teams) and South Bay League (five teams).
Mesa League standings featured Eastlake in first place with a 7-1 league record, Castle Park in second place tie with San Ysidro, both with 4-4 league records, Mater Dei Catholic in fourth place with a 3-5 record and Olympian in fifth place with a 2-6 league record.
San Ysidro handed league champion Eastlake its only league loss this season – 9-8 on April 19.
The South Bay League standings featured Bonita Vista and Mar Vista as co-champions, each with 7-1 league records. Hilltop and Otay Ranch finished in a tie for third place with a 3-5 records. Southwest finished 0-8 in league play while Montgomery did not field a team for league play.
Bonita Vista and Mar Vista exchanged league wins. The Lady Mariners won 10-9 on April 9 while Bonita Vista returned the favor with an 18-3 victory on April 30 to pull even in the standings.
Keith Quigley once again coached both the Olympian boys and girls teams. The Lady Eagles (7-14) finished the final regular season rankings at No. 44 – fifth deep among the 10 Metro Conference teams.
“The Olympian boys had a good season and we’re looking forward to our playoff game against Clairemont,” Quigley said. “This season we were led by seniors Charlie Leverman, Diego Perez and goalie David Cortes. Being the No. 6 seed in the playoffs, we’re hoping to make some noise with a playoff run.”
Final regular season rankings for Metro girls teams were as follows: No. 26 Eastlake, No. 29 Castle Park, No. 35 San Ysidro, No. 37 Mater Dei Catholic, No. 39 Bonita Vista), No. 44 Olympian, No. 50 Mar Vista (8-3), No. 55 Hilltop (5-12), No. 61 Otay Ranch (4-11), No. 62 Southwest (0-8) and No. 63 Montgomery (0-2).
“All and all the girls team had a solid season led by senior captains Ashley Sardon and Isabella Morales and junior goalie Laura Martinez,” Quigley said. “We only have two seniors graduating, so that’s a good thing for next season. We have a young team. It was definitely exciting to end the season with a 5-4 overtime win against San Ysidro since we didn’t make the playoffs this season.”
Eastern exposure
A total of 12 teams — seven boys teams and five girls teams — from East County qualified for this year’s playoffs.
West Hills (12-6) earned the No. 1 seed among Division I boys teams while Foothills Christian (14-4) was seeded third, Valhalla (9-8) was seeded fourth and Monte Vista (4-14) seeded 12th to round out East County representation in the division.
Santana (11-9) received the third seed in the Division II boys field while Granite Hills (10-9) and Grossmont (9-7) were seeded ninth and 11th, respectively, in the Division I boys field.
West Hills (12-7) received the No. 5 seed and Monte Vista (7-6) the No. 11 seed in the Division III girls field while El Capitan (12-5) received the No. 9 seed and Valhalla (6-12) the No. 12 seed in the Division II field. Granite Hills (10-6) received the No. 12 seed in the Division I field.
Granite Hills and Grossmont’s boys teams will face off Division I first-round play on Wednesday, May 8. Quarterfinals follow on Saturday, May 11 and semifinals on Wednesday, May 15. All games are set for 7 p.m. starts.
Division II and Division III boys teams will play opening-round games on Tuesday, May 7, and quarterfinal games on Friday, May 10. Semifinal games are scheduled Tuesday, May 14, for Division III boys teams and Wednesday, May 15, for Division II boys teams.
According to LaxNumbers, Santana was the top-ranked East County boys team at No. 16, followed by Granite Hills at No. 17, Grossmont at No. 23 and West Hills at No. 30 among the section’s 57 ranked teams.
On the girls side, Granite Hills was ranked No. 24, El Capitan No. 27, Valhalla No. 31 and West Hills No. 36 among the section’s 63 ranked teams.
By the numbers
Dane Dobbie, whose overtime goal subdued the seventh-seeded Panther City in the Seals’ 9-8 quarterfinal playoff game on April 27, scored 40 seconds into Friday’s game to provide the Seals with an early 1-0 advantage. The Seals led, 2-1, when Curtis Dickson countered Albany’s game-tying goal.
The FireWolves kept up the scoring pace from there, leading by scores of 6-2 and 11-6. The Seals did narrow the score to 6-5 on a goal by Wes Berg 23 seconds into the second half. However, the New York visitors reeled off a 5-1 scoring edge to take control on the scoreboard.
The Seals made their own run as Austin Staats and Berg scored consecutive goals to open the fourth quarter to bring the hosts back into the game at 11-8. Albany extended its lead to 13-8 before the Seals made a late rally while out-scoring the New Yorkers 4-2.
Albany’s Alex Simmons paced all scorers in the game with 10 points (five goals, five assists). Dickson led the Seals with four goals while Staats contributed five assists. Berg keyed the Seals with seven points (three goals, four assists) overall in the loss.
San Diego head coach Patrick Merrill told the league’s website “We didn’t start playing with a sense of urgency until it was too late. We just ran out of time.”
Sunday’s rematch was highlighted by 18 penalties, including 12 against the Seals, and eight power play goals.
The Seals opened up an early 2-0 lead on goals by Tre Leclaire and Staats but host Albany responded by scoring six of the game’s next seven goals, including three man-advantage goals, to go in front 6-3.
The never-say-doe Seals challenged with goals by Dickson and Staats to narrow the score to 6-5 at halftime. Dobbie tied the game at 6-all with the opening goal of the second half.
But the FireWolves answered with four of the next five goals to take a 10-7 lead into the final quarter. Albany led 12-8 before Dobbie and Staats tallied back-to-back goals to pull the West Coast visitors to within 12-10 on the scoreboard with 5:09 to play in regulation. The FireWolves finally put the game – and series – away with an empty-net goal late in the match.
Dobbie moved into sole possession of the league’s all-time playoff goals list with 85.
Albany’s Tye Kurtz led all scorers in Sunday’s game with three goals and six assists while Leclaire topped the Seals with five points (two goals, three assists). Staats led the Seals on the court with four goals.
Doug Jamieson back-stopped the FireWolves with 51 goaltender saves compared to 33 for San Diego’s Christopher Origlieri.
Albany advances to meet defending champion Buffalo Bandits in the best-of-three NLL championship series.
The fourth-seeded Bandits eliminated the top-seeded Toronto Rock, 10-8, on Sunday to sweep their semifinal series in front of 16,000 Buffalo fans.
NLL regular season attendance surpassed the one million mark for the second consecutive season. Buffalo led the league with a 16,974 per game average, followed by Calgary at 11,713. The Seals ranked 13th among the 15 teams at 4,667.
PREP RECAPS
Division III opening round: Lady Monarchs down Lady Barons, 9-7
The Monte Vista Lady Monarchs traded their runner-up finish in this year’s Grossmont Valley League standings for a first-round playoff win on Tuesday as they held off a late Bonita Vista rally to claim a 9-7 victory in the San Diego Section Division III elimination bracket
The 11th-seeded Lady Monarchs (8-6) advance to meet third-seeded San Ysidro (14-8) in Friday’s quarterfinals while sixth-seeded Bonita Vista ends its Metro-South Bay League co-championship season with a final 12-10 record.
“It’s our first time to the second round,” Monte Vista coach Scott Cross said. “It feels awesome. The girls put in a lot of hard work. I couldn’t feel more happy for them.”
Evelyn Cross and Brooke Yeatts each led the Lady Monarchs on the field with four goals while goalkeeper Alyna Bustos was credited with eight saves.
The game was close in the first half. Monte Vista scored first before the game was tied 2-2. The visitors maintained a one- or two-goal lead for much of the first half before going up 6-3 at one point. The hosts managed to narrow the score in the second half but could not net the equalizer.
“We noticed they were playing a zone defense, so we slowed down our attack in the second half,” the Monte Vista coach said. “We were looking for the best option to score.”
The elder Scott said the team proved to be over-achievers during the spring season.
“We didn’t have many returners, so I was hoping for a decent season,” the Lady Monarch coach said. “But halfway through the season, the team began to exceed expectations.”
Monte Vista finished behind West Hills in the Grossmont Valley League standings. The Lady Wolf Pack received the No. 5 seed in this year’s Division III playoff field.
Bonita Vista tied Mar Vista for the Metro-South Bay League championship with identical 7-1 league records.
Lady Baron coach Ahmad Rice did not discount the team’s playoff finish.
“We had a great season going from 2-15 to 12-10,” Rice said. “The girls got to experience a new level in CIF. It was a great push.”
Bailey Gregoire and Jaslene DeArmas paced Bonita Vista in regular season scoring.
Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents
